Unemployment up in Pa., down in N.J.

The U.S. Labor Department released numbers Friday showing that civilian unemployment in Pennsylvania ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 7.9 percent in December, compared to November.

In New Jersey the number fell by the same fraction, to 9.6 percent for the same period. The rates are seasonally adjusted. The national unemployment rate in December was 7.8 percent.

In regional numbers, the Mid-Atlantic held steady at 8.4 percent unemployment, compared to 8.1 percent for the entire Northeast, 8.7 percent in the West, 7.3 percent in the South and 7.1 percent in the Midwest. - Reid Kanaley